Our County by Lynda Hopkins - 5th District Supervisor - November 2018

Happy November! Between municipal advisory councils, housing meetings, ever-changing septic policies and more, we’re looking to be very busy. Here’s what to expect in November:

Septic updates

On Tuesday, Nov. 13, the Board of Supervisors is set to discuss and approve the county’s new onsite wastewater treatment system, or OWTS manual. The county was required to update its manual in order to conform with AB 885, which was signed into law in 2000, which provided new OWTS regulations. To be in accordance with new state law, the county had to submit a LAMP — or local area management plan — to the Regional Water Board, demonstrating compliance with the OWTS-Manual-Revision. The update OWTS manual also has to be submitted to the Regional Board for approval. Once the new manual has been approved, the policy will take effect.

Sonoma County residents will not have to comply with new regulations unless they are applying for a new building permit or any type of septic permit. Find more about the new regulations at: http://sonomacounty.ca.gov/PRMD/Regulations/OWTS-Manual-Revision.

Let’s talk cannabis...

In the middle of October, our office learned of a use permit application for a proposed cannabis cultivation site on Railroad Street in Graton. The Board of Supervisors, during a public hearing on amendments to the county’s cannabis ordinance, heard from a lot of concerned Graton neighbors and surrounding community members about this particular application. Concerns ranged from proposed size of the site, to location next to the West County Trail and incompatibility with the area’s open meadows.

It is important to note that the application is in the very early phase of the use permit application process. At this early phase, a staff recommendation has not been issued, nor will it be issued until the public has time to provide input on the project.

I understand and appreciate every concern. While I cannot take a formal position for or against a project that might ultimately come before the Board of Supervisors – doing so is illegal and would demonstrate prejudice at a future hearing – please know that, as a matter of policy, I am personally concerned about any cannabis operation in such close proximity to the West County Trail, which is part of our Regional Parks network.

We currently have, in our cannabis ordinance, a 1,000-foot property line setback from parks. The spirit of this rule is designed to keep cannabis cultivation away from public uses, with the idea that families and residents of all ages have a right to enjoy public property without being exposed to cannabis cultivation and any offsite impacts that might arise from it.

Unfortunately, I have learned that County staff chose to interpret the West County Trail as NOT being part of the Regional Parks park system, but rather a “mode of transportation.”To me, this is completely counterintuitive and contrary to the intent of our ordinance... not to mention the public’s use of the trail.

At the Board of Supervisors meeting on Oct. 16, I requested that my colleagues on the Board support me in directing staff to bring back an ordinance that would safeguard our precious trail network. The majority of the board supported my request. I also proposed a moratorium on cannabis cultivation applications adjacent to trails to allow us time to vet this issue and develop an ordinance to address our concerns. Finally, I will work as a member of the Cannabis Ad Hoc with County staff to figure out the best way to move an ordinance and possible moratorium forward.

Please also note that the County’s Right to Farm ordinance does not apply to cannabis cultivation; cannabis cultivation is considered a new, non-agricultural land use, and as such, impacts on adjacent property uses will be taken into careful consideration.

For those who have questions or concerns about the use permit application, please contact the project planner, Steven Rosen atsrosen@migcom.com. If you email Steven, your feedback and concerns will be considered by staff as they review the application, and your concerns must be addressed as the use permit process moves forward.

River Road Rage...

If you’re like me and have been stuck in traffic on River Road, there’s good reason. PG&E has been very active on the west county connector, working a five-mile stretch for vegetation management. The stretch parallels PG&E’s high voltage transmission line that runs from the Fulton substation westward to the Monte Rio substation. The traffic snarls began in late September when contract tree crews working for PG&E started pruning and removing trees, beginning at the Fulton substation and moving westward.

The work is being done along PG&E’s entire 15-mile, 60,000-volt line, which has been identified as a critical project for improving reliability performance and safety based on records of historical tree-caused outages.

According to PG&E’s Brian Bottari, the line has been out nine times since 2007 due to vegetation. The utility’s vegetation management reliability improvement project will minimize the risk of vegetation or fire caused outages by increasing vegetation clearance distances along the line. The project on River Road includes reducing fuels, cutting trees, portions of trees and brush that are hazardous to the facilities that are determined to be incompatible vegetation.

The work is expected to last another three or four weeks.

Speaking of PG&E…

If you’ve been on Trenton Road and noticed a large, metal power pole — what the neighborhood kindly refers to as the “Godzilla pole,”— PG&E has notified us that work to remove the pole was set to begin on Monday, Oct. 29.

The 60-foot pole supports the mechanics required for automatic power switches, an effort PG&E is undertaking to modernize and add resilience to its power grid. The utility is working on replacing manual switches with automated ones that allow for remote de-energizing and re-energizing of power lines.

The Godzilla pole is being removed after neighbors complained to the county that they had not received any notice of the work.Permit Sonoma determined that PG&E had not filed for the right use permit application for the installation, so it is being relocated to an area adjacent to the neighborhood and away from residences.

TOT for West County!

We need you on Tuesday, Dec. 11 to attend the regularly scheduled Board of Supervisors meeting to rally for coveted transient occupancy tax funds, also known as TOT dollars or bed tax.

TOT funds are a tax assessed on hotel rooms within the county. Two budget cycles ago, I advocated for a tourism impact mitigation fund that secures a portion of the county-generated TOT dollars proportionate to the amount of TOT collected in the previous fiscal year. The idea is to make sure the communities most impacted by tourism receive proportionate funding back directly into their communities. West County, which generated 48.55 percent of the TOT funds in the 2017-18 fiscal year, will receive 48.55 percent of the funds this year to invest in community improvement projects.

It’s important for our west county community to come out in strong numbers to tell the Board of Supervisors how important this program is for the Fifth District.

Without these funds, we wouldn’t have been able to provide new radios and other emergency equipment for our local fire departments. We wouldn’t have been able to improve the sidewalk connection to downtown in Occidental. And we wouldn’t have been able to help the City of Sebastopol fund a much-desired crosswalk improvement on Bodega Avenue. These funds are vital to our community’s safety, livelihood and overall solvency. Without the funding, West County will continue to be negatively impacted by tourism which, while bringing revenue into our small hamlets and towns, also drains and stresses our roads, parks, and fire and emergency service personnel.

This program is vital in leveling the field for our local communities.